Indicating apparatus



June 17, 1930. AR. HOFSTETTER INDICATING APPARATUS Filed June 16 1926 latentecl .lune l93 UNITED fsTATss PATENT OFFICE ROBERT HOFSTETTER, OF DOWNERS GROYE, LLNOIS, 4.ASSIG'NOR TO WESTERN ELEC- TRIC OOIVIIPANY,A INCORPORATED, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION 0F NEW YORK INDICATING APPARATUS Application led June 16,

rThis invention relates generally to indicating apparatus, and more particularly to apparatus for indicating the output of operatorsor machines. y

One object of the invention is to provide a simple and reliabley apparatus for indicating the theoretical or standard number ofv operations a worker or a machine should have completed at any time.

Anotherobject ofthe invention is to provide an apparatus for indicating for direct comparison the numbers of actual and theoretical or expected operations of a. worker or a machine.

In accordance with the general features of the invention, there is provided a prime mover which operates at a constant rate of speed, and an indicating means controlled thereby, which may present indicia changing at either a uniform or non-uniform rate, according to the constancy ofthe rate at which the work is to be completed, the indicating means being adjustable so that any desired indicia may be presented. Preferably these indicia are presented in a position for ready comparison directly with indications of the actual output.

lt is often advantageous in determining the efficiency of machinery to be able at any time to make a direct comparison between the actual and the theoretical outputs of a machine, and a device constructed in accordance with the present invention isv particularly adapted to be used for that purpose.

Another important application to which the invention may be put is the indication at any-time of the theoretical output of a worker or a group of workers. In one system of computing the earnings of workers, a flat rate of payment is established for the production of a specified number of pieces in a working day and additional payments are made for all of the pieces produced in excessl of the specified number. rlhis invention provides means' whereby one or more workers may ascertain at any time thev number of pieces or operations which should have been completed at that time and by com'- paring this number with that indicated on an auxiliary counter, which may be actuated 1926. Serial No. 116,294.

at the completion of each piece or operation, the worker will immediately know whether the actual rate of production is slower or faster than the required rate.

it is believed that the invention will be clearly understood from the following detailed description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. l is a front elevation of-an apparatus illustrating` one embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary vfront elevation of a modification thereof;

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic view of an apparatus illustrating another embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail view of a contact wheel comprising a part thereof;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view thereof, taken substantially on line 5 5 of Fig. 4;

F ig. 6 is an enlarged detail view of a spacing block forming a part thereof, and

Fig. I is an enlarged detail view of a contact member forming a part thereof.

in the drawing, in which like numerals designate like parts throughout the several views, Fig. l illustratesone embodiment of the invention in which the prime mover consists of an ordinary clock-work such as that in an ordinary clock. The clock-work is mounted adjacent a circular aperture 1l in a casing l0 and in place of the usual dial and hands, there is substituted a rotating dial l2, which is rigidly secured to the shaft 13 upon which the hour hand is usually mounted, the dial l2 having suitable indicia thereon. A fixed pointer 14 is mounted in any suitable manner on the casing l0 adjacent the dial l2 to serve as a reference in reading the indicia.

Mounted adjacent an aperture l5 in the casing l0 is a registering mechanism 16 of any suitable type, which is controlled by means of the arm 17 through any suitable means such as the cord 18. The registering mechanism is also provided with suitable means of any usual type, controlled by the knob 19 for the purpose of returning the indicia to their zero position or for setting the indicia at any desired value.

Let us suppose that the specified ratel of production is 1020 pieces or operations in y .would beitraversed within the first 41/2 hours,y

y v"7 .30 a. In. until noon, the space corresponding to the lnoor hour is left blank and the -a Working day of 81/2 hours.v In the embodi-.

ment illustrated by Fig.4V 1, the dialA 113s graduated so as to'provide indicia reading from zero to 540 Within the space which corresponding 'to the working period from space corresponding to the periodv from 1 p. m. until 5 p. m. is graduatedso as to provide indicia reading from 540 to 1020.

In operatiomthe clock will be wound and started, and the Vdial* 12 rotated by the usual setting means until the'gzero mark on the dial isopposite'the fixed pointer 14 at `the beginning of a Workingvday. The dial 12 will belrotated bytheclock mechanism at a uniform velocity in a clockwise direction, as seen iny Fig. 1, and the indicia will thereby be successively brought opposite the pointer 14. The worker may then actuate the registering mechanism 16 through the `cord "18 Vat the end'of each .operationfto indicate the actual number ofoperations com-y pleted. Since the indiciaon thev dial 12 are arran ed toindicate the, theoretical Vnumber o operations that should have been comvgpleted at any time, by comparing the read ings on the register and on the dial, the

,n lat iiuctuating rates, ydepending upon the kind workerV may' iatk any time! ascertain ywhether the speciiedrate :is being maintained.

Although the divisions ofthe indicia vare represented as uniform in the embodiment ofthe invention illustrated by. Fig. '1,' they might ro erl 'be s acedunevenl ,.since. it P y P y is a well own fact that'operators ywork of work zdone.y For example, in 'ordinary machine work peaks of, output. are reached at mid-forenoon and-mid-afternoon. The divisions ofthe'indicia might wellk vary accordingly, as isshown in the v.modification illustrated by Fig. 2, to cause the'indication of the theoretical or expected output to more nearly coincide withft eactual production.

In this modification the [indicia corresponding toy the z theoretical `output for the morning workl eriodare shown and itlwill be notedthat t e total expected output gfor y the morning period is the same as that for the correspondingperiod in the vfirstmodification. However, the indiciak are `spaced `more lwidely at the beginning and at the ythe groove is straight, the

clined ed provided a shaft 20 connected in an suitable manner to a prime mover (not s own) Y which is Vadapted to operate at a constant rate ofspeed upon which shaft are rigidly lmounted a pluralityof contact wheels 21 and 22. The 'prime mover connected to the shaft 20 may be of any4 suitable type so long as itmay operate at a constant rate of speed, a constant speed electricv motormbeing avery. satisfactor deviceV to use'.

Since vt e construction of lthe contact wheels 21 and 22 is similar, only the wheel 2l willjbe described Vin detail,it being understood, however, thaty the other wheel 22 is is provided with parts corresponding to those described in connectionwith the'wheelV The contact wheel 21, as shown in Fig.v 4, carries a series of metallicv contact members 23-23 insulated from each other by spac'- .1

ing blocks 24-24 made of a suitable in snlat ing material, such as hard rubber, .which contact members are adapted to cooperate with brushes 25-25 suitably mounted in fixed position to intermittentlyk close an electric .circuit 26; The contact members 23-4'23 andthie spacing blocks 24--24 (Figs. 5,6 and 7) are Aof trapczium shaped cross section and are mounted in a circular groove 28 extending completely around the face of the contact wheel 21. One edge 29 of the groove is inclined with lrespect to the bob tom (Fig. 5) so as to conform with one in clined edge ofthe contact members and spacing blocks, while the lopposite edge '0f clined edge of the groove being covered with a layer 30 of a suitable insulating compound.

The contact members23-23 andthe spacing blocks 24-24 are inserted in the groove 28 with one inclined surface in contact with the insulating material covering the, in-

29 of the groove 28 and a series of clamping blocks 31, composedof an insulating material, such as hard. rubber, are

clamped ragainst the contact members 22 and the spacing blocks 27`27 by means of screws 33 threaded into the body of the com tact wheel 21. j v The circuit 26 controlled bythe contact members 23-23 leads from a source of elec` trical energy such as a battery 51 to a solenoid' 34 adapted to accuate a plunger 35 connected by means of a link 37 to an arm 36 of van indicating mechanism 38, a switch 34 being provided to open the circuit during the period when the indicating device is not in use. The indicating device 38 may be of any well known type and` is provided with two sets of indicia 39 and 40, the indicia 39 being adapted to be automatically conf trolled by the solenoid and they indicia 40 lbeing adapted to be manuali controlled by means of an arm' 413throug Va suitable operating Inember,ksuch as acord 42. `The 'me ottom and mf indicating mechanism 38 is also provided With suitable means of any usual type controlled by knobs 43 and le for the purpose otreturning the indicia 39 and 40 to their zeropositions or for setting the indicia at any desired values.

Let us again suppose that the rate of production is 1020 parts or operations in a Working' day of 81/2 hours. Within the space upon the contact Wheel 21 Which Would be traversed Within the iirst t1/2 hours there are inserted fifty-four of the Contact members 23-23 separated byv a corresponding number of spacing blocks 2li-24e. There are .no contact members located in the space which Would be traversed Within the next or noon hour, While Within the space traversed Within the succeeding 4 hours there would be located forty-eight contact members. The

'part of the indicating mechanism controllet by the arm 36 is then adjusted so `that 10 units of the indicia Will be added upon each actuation thereof.

The operation of this embodiment ot the invention is as follows: The indicia 39 and 40 are turned to Zero or to any other desired reading and the contact Wheel 21 is rotated manually or in any other suitable manner at the beginning of a Working day until the first spacing block 24 isin alignment With the brushes 25-25. The switch 3a is then closed and the prime mover is started so that the shaft 20 is slowly rotated at a const-ant rate of speed. At the end ot' predetermined intervals the brushes 2.5-2.5 will coact with the contact members 23-23 to intermittently close the circuit 26 which may be 'traced from one terminal of the battery 51 through the solenoid 34, one brush 25, the engaged contact member 23, the other brush 25, the closed switch 34 and thence to the other terminal of the battery 51. The solenoid 34 energizes and thereby intermittently actuates the arm 36 which controls the indicia 39. The Worker may operate the arm 41 by means of the cord 4t2 at the conipletion of each operation, the total number of operations being indicated by the indicia 40. By comparing the readings of the two indicia, which are positioned for ready and direct comparison, the Worker or a supervisor may at any time ascertain Whether or not the specified or theoretical standard rate is being maintained.

The contact Wheel 22 isalso supplied With contact'and spacing members similar to those described in connection with. the Wheel 21, which members control a circuit 50 similar to circuit 26, connected to an indicating mechanism, Which may be similar to the mechanism 38 or which may comprise a single automatic register, the manually operated indicia being omitted in that case. Any number of Contact Wheelsrmay be mounted on the shaft 20 which may have different combinations in the arrangement of the con-u tact members and Which may have their respective "indicating mechanisms located in various parts of the plant. Also aplurality of indicating devices may be placed in a single circuitvin anyV suitable manner, such as bythe lead- Wires 52, and be disposed at various' points as desired. By such arrangements, one constant speed prime mover may serve to control a large number oi indieating devices, Whichv is advantageous because the moving parts ar centralized, thereby rendering them readily accessible for inspection and for changing the spacing of the contact members.

Although the contact members 23- 3 are illustrated as spaced evenly in the embodiment ol the invention illustrated by Figs. 3'to7 inclusive, they might also be'spaced unevenly, -as the indicia are in the embodiment illustrated by Fig. 2, .to cause the indicia 39 to change at a rate which fluctuates to correspond with the rate of the output of the Workers.

Then it is desired to change the indicia, this may be readily done in any of the above embodiments of the invention. In the embodiments illustrated by Figs. 1 and 2, the dial carrying the indicia may be removed at any time and another dial With the desired indicia thereon substituted. In the embodiment illustrated by Figs. 3 to 7 inclusive, the desired change may be made in several Ways. The setting of the part of the indicating mechanism 38 cont-rolled by the arm 36 may be varied to causo a greater or less change inthe indicia with each actuation of the arm; the Width of the spacing blocks 24l-2l` may be varied to space the contact members 23-23k at any desired intervals;` the size of the Contact Wheels 21 and 22 may be varied to enable a greater or lesser number of contact members to Vcontact with the brushes during the same angular displacement of the Wheels; or any combination of the above changes may be made. It Will thus be seen that a large number of arrangements of the indicia are available in the iirst tWo modifications, While an almost unlimited number of permutations for the output indicia are available in the last modification.

lVhat is claimed is:

1. In an indicating apparatus, a circuit controlling disk provided with a circular dove-tailed groove around one face thereof, a plurality of trapezium shaped contact members adjustably secured in the groove, a plurality of trapezium shaped insulating spacing blocks mounted in the groove sepa-- rating the contact members, a plurality of arcuate insulating blocks for adjustably securing the contact members and the spacing blocks in the groove, each of the insulating blocks extending laterally of a group of the contact members and the spacing blocks at i fone end thema-mams for' me 'disk `at a constant rirelor'xity, and brushes adapted toeoet with the contact members Vandthe spacing blocks for .intermittently :j

vand' clesngran electric circuit. Y 2; In au indieating'ayparatualaarotatable circuit-controlling mem y l er ruvided with a circular groove .upon one ace thereofrthe louter face of .said groovebeing undercut, a

plurality ofcontact members mounted in said groove and4 havinetheir outer edges beveled'to conform to t y the groove, a pluralityof insulating'spacing members separati thewconta'ct members,. and a vplurality of insulating blocks rem'rav,a

ably secured to the circuit-controllingimemvber and engagingthe contact members and the spacing members to removably secure `them in the groove, each ofthe insulating the blocks extendlng laterally of a group of the contact and spacing members at one end n y thereof.

3. Inanindicating a circuit-controlling mem er provided with a circular groove upon oneface thereof, the Y outer face ofvsaid groove being undercut, a plurality of contact'members mounted lin saidl groove and having their louter edges beveled to conform to the undercut face of oove, a'plurality of 'insulating spacing mem ers Aseparating the contact members and having theiry outer edges beveled to conform tothe undercut face of the groove, and

f a plurality of insulating blocks removably secured to-the circuit-controlling member and engagin the contact members and the spacing memgbers to removably secure them in the groove, each of the insulating blocks extending laterally of a lgroupzof the contact and spacmg members at. one end thereof.v y

In witness whereof, I: hereunto subscribe v my name this 3 day cfg-June A. De, 1926.

. ROBERT HOFSTETTER.

imams undercut face of paratus, Aa rotatable 

